Today a peaceful and nearly wind still day at sea. The only movements that can be seen are other ships coming from or going to the Canal and Brown Boobies and Starlings hovering over the bow. The moving ship produces an upstream of air and the birds love it. Without any real wind there is no turbulence, so they can drift on the “bow wind” and land on the railing whenever they want.

On the very top of the bow mast is a small black box. Inside is the Panama Canal steering light……and  it offers a perfect landing pad for any self discerning sea bird

As they like to sit high there is a constant tussle going on between them of who is allowed to sit on the highest point – the top of the Panama Canal steering light.  Nice to look at and some divertissement for the Navigators. The only person who will be distinctively unhappy will be the Bo’ sun as the birds tend to leave presents behind on the wooden deck, before they move on.

Yesterday we were in the Panama Canal and between a cruise ship and a cargo ship there is one big difference to observe; tugboats are seldom used.  As they are compulsory when entering and leaving the dock and anywhere else where the pilots deem it necessary, you see them hovering around the ship but a cruise ship they seldom touch.  All courtesy of the gadgets that make the cruise ships so maneuverable.

But even among the cruise ships there are differences. Sometimes in design and sometimes in power. The more modern the cruise ship the more powerful the propulsion tends to be and the same goes for the thrusters. I think that the designers realize that in the long run cancelling ports is less cost effective than spending a few dollars on equipment during the new build.  Thus all the cruise ships now have bow thrusters, stern thrusters, pitch propellers, double rudders or the combination of propeller & rudder & thruster into a pod.

Basically with having all that power it means that you carry your own tugboats with you, which will enable you to dock in ports where there are no tugs, or where the tugs are not strong enough. More power and you can dock during higher wind & current situations.  For the latest generation of cruise ships it is not unusual that they can maneuver against 40+ knots of wind and that is Gale force winds. Winds that almost make you bend over while walking in it. If the captain deems it safe to dock, it again reduces the chance of a cancellation.

This is the pod setting for going forward. The ship is pulled forward instead of being pushed forward as is the case with a conventional propeller system

Since 2000 the addition to the ships of podded propulsion has become more and more standard. The great advantage is that it combines the stern thruster, the rudder and the propeller into one unit. Basically it acts as if you have an outboard motor hanging under the ship and the way you pull the handle is the way the ship goes.   For maneuvering a ship it does not make that much of a difference, whether everything is separate or combined into one unit, except for one issue: With rudders and stern thrusters you are limited to a certain amount of power that is available. With an Azi –pod or Mermaid – pod (Azi pod is name of the ABB Company, Mermaid is Rolls Royce) all the power that you use for going forward is now also available for going sideways.

Starting with the Amsterdam in 2000 all our ships, built since then, have podded propulsion.  Also our new ship will have it and as everybody is very happy with this concept, I will think we will keep it for a long time to come………….Until something new comes along.  The Pod was a bold innovation but no doubt there will be –out of the box – thinking going already again. It will be exciting to see what the next innovation will be.  I would not be amazed if some sort of sail assist would be the next step.

Most of the day we were still sailing off the Panamanian Coast but by 5 pm. we crossed the border between Panama and Costa Rica. Then by tomorrow morning 0500 hrs. we will approach the Golfo de Nicoya to dock at 0600 in Puntarenas.  Weather expected more of the same; warm, sunny and the occasional downpour.

And thus we approached the Panama Canal in the very early morning hours. However things do not always go as planned so by 0800 hrs. the ship was one hour behind the published schedule, courtesy of some slow movers coming the other way. That meant that the whole transit was going to be put back due to the natural bottle neck at Gamboa. This is the Panama Canal headquarters about half way in the Canal. Here the Canal goes from single lane to dual lane, e.g. ships can pass each other between the Atlantic side and Gamboa but not between the Pacific side and Gamboa. A slow convoy moving towards the Atlantic and the convoy towards the pacific is delayed. And yes we were delayed accordingly. If all goes well you can make Gamboa around 11.30 in the morning. Now it was going to be 12.30 and that also automatically meant that the Veendam would not be out in the open (Pacific) ocean again until 1700 hrs.

The new locks waiting to be installed. Photo from the internet

My main interest today was to see how they were getting on with the new Locks. On the Atlantic side there is hardly anything to see as a high hill between the old locks and the new ones block the view. But they had an attraction there: the new lock doors had arrived and were parked for the time being on the edge of the fairway to the first set of Locks, the Pedro Miguel Locks. They are big, really big, soo big that it was difficult to get a picture of them in such a way that it did justice to their size. So I googled one but it shows the same location and setup of what I could not get on my camera the right way. We had glorious weather today, sunshine all the way to the Continental Divide.

There it rained and thundered for 5 minutes while approaching the 2nd set of locks and then it was dry again for the remainder of the passage. So everybody should be really happy about that one. A very nice un-eventful crossing. The first set of locks are the most impressive ones, as they have the 3 step going up and going down. But at the last set of locks there is more to see, as one side are the new locks, clearly visible taking shape and the other side there is a large visitors centre which is normally, and was today, full of people watching the ships go by.

A cruise ship of course attracts more attention than a cargo ship and so there was a lot of noise coming from the 1000 (?) or so viewers on the top floor. But the other side was the most interesting.

The Canal had a setback a while ago when it became clear that the wrong concrete was used when they started with the lock chambers. The Panama Canal Authority and the (Spanish) contractor are blaming each other but what happened was that the concrete was used did not set/harden in the rain. Who ever made the mistake must have thought that it never rained in Panama. Well if it didn’t then there would be no Canal and then there would also be no reason to pour concrete for new locks in the first place. However that issue has now been sorted and the lock walls are going up very fast and the area is enormous, gigantic and really impressive.

The new the new Locks fit into the old system

Although you can see it very well, it is still quite far away from where the ship now sails coming out of the old locks. When the locks are finished, the dam will be cut away and then there will be a Y pass created, giving the option to use the old or the new locks. For the cruise ships it would be interesting from a sightseeing point of view to go through both an old and a new lock. By 2016 we should know if the Panama Canal Authority is having the same thoughts. Tomorrow we will sail along the West coast of Panama and then later along the Costa Rican one on our way to Puntarenas. It is going to be interesting weather wise as there is the chance of a hurricane brewing further out in the Pacific. The weather gurus are a bit non-committal as to what is going to happen, so the only thing we can do is keep an eye on it and plots its development and movement.

The Veendam in the Panama Canal Webcam. (Courtesy of Lesley Schoonderbeek)

The weather forecast called for rain in the afternoon but it turned out not to be the case. We had all the rain in the morning and it only dried up close to lunch time when all the guests were returning to the ship, as departure was scheduled for 1300 hrs.  It gave a very sunny sail away, but a rather wet port call. For those of you who are familiar with the area; when it rains, it does rain, better said, it pours. The rain might be warm but you still get soaking wet.  The ship was docked by 0700 hrs. in the morning to give everybody maximum time in port and most guests took indeed the opportunity to do just that. I normally have breakfast at 0700 hrs. in the morning but it was standing room only in the Lido and thus I awaited a better time. Never interfere with people ready to mount an invasion.

Cartagena is located partly along the coast of the Caribbean Sea, the lower West part. That is the Western side of the City but the port is located around a large inland bay, which for the city is laying at the East Side.  It is a very large bay and it is sheltered. It takes nearly an hour to get from the entrance to the cruise dock in the top of the harbor. As long as you can get through the entrance, you are in safe waters.

A view of the Boca Chica entrance from an ancient map

The entrance is narrow and is called Boca Chica. What is narrow can be easily controlled and defended and it is this combination of narrow with a very large bay, which made it a coveted place. Already in the 16^th. Century  the world powers were quarreling over it. The British fought the Spanish here, the Dutch created mayhem here; basically everybody who was somebody in the good old days had a go at the area. However the Spanish influence has always been the greatest as can be seen nowadays from the fact that it is a Spanish speaking Country. Gun emplacements and Forts are located on either side of the entrance and date back to the days of the Spanish.

This is the fortification on the South Side

I have been coming here since 1982. The first call was with the old Statendam (III) which was then on her last voyage (Capt. Aad Hess) before being sold to Paquet cruises.  I had heard the stories but now I saw with my own eyes what a real Middle American (or a northerly located South American port) looked like. Cartagena had not yet made the transition to a container port, security was non existent and cleanliness was a word mainly found in a dictionary.  The docks were still covered by the old sheds from the days that all the goods were stored there until loaded by hand onto the ships. As nobody really cleaned up I saw the biggest rats I have ever seen.  But according to most crew on board it was a happy place.  Happy Shopping, Happy Prices, Happy Hour, plenty Happy Ladies……… and plenty Happy Rats. I was not impressed.  Although the city itself was very beautiful and interesting.

Things were not really that safe in the following years, due to the emerging drug cartels which used Cartagena as an export base, and for a while afterwards the cruise ships did not call anymore.  Then containerization came and with it the whole port was cleaned out. Now there are nice docks, good infrastructure and the ships started to come back. I think that most of the Happy stuff is still there as well but it is now far removed from the Container Port; which now doubles up as the Cruise Terminal.

As mentioned yesterday, we have to get to the canal on time and thus we sailed at 1300 hrs.  The schedule for the Transit has come in and tomorrow 28 Oct., is an early one.

0500: Breakwater at Cristobal

0630 – 0835  Gatun Locks

1335 – 1415  Pedro Miguel Locks

1430 – 1445  Miraflores locks

(Which means we could be back in open sea by 1600 hrs.)

The weather forecast gives a “chance of rain” and that is always a safe prediction. If we do not get rain on one side of the Continental Divide, then we will get it on the other side.  As Capt. Hess of the old Statendam would say; I have no idea what the weather is going to be, but I can promise you a Zero percentage of snow.

What was supposed to be the one day at sea became now the 2^nd day at sea due to not being able to call at Grand Cayman yesterday.  And what a day it was today. Flat Calm of wind. Not even a ripple for most of the day. The only wind that was there was produced by the ship itself.  It made for what they call a “balmy” day. It made the sea surface look oily and anything that moved over or in it was easy visible. Thus the Quartermasters spotted “big fish” at 07.30 when I poked my nose onto the bridge.  As I have explained in the past, we are now all heavily trained in recognizing large marine mammals in the water and then to ensure that we do not sail over them.  Most species we easily recognize, such as Humpback, Minke, Right, Fin, Blue whales, etc. etc. Same goes for Dolphins although of those there are a larger number of variations out there and sometimes the differences are quite minimal.

This morning we saw something that looked like a small whale or a very big dolphin and all the experts on the bridge were puzzled.  Thus the book “with all the Marine Mammals in the world” came out and by studying the pictures we tried to come to a identification.  We really could not find it, as the dolphin that we saw looked like the Common Dolphin but it was just much bigger than the average dimensions given in the book.  Thus the Quartermasters were convinced that they had discovered a new sort of dolphin which is now officially named “very big common dolphin”. (In Latin: Dolphinus Giganticus Communales) Now we have to make sure that next time we take pictures when we see one so that we can prove our discovery.

While the ship is gearing up for the official change over to the 3 alarm system, I can only wait as all the preparation work has nearly been done. I will be in full swing again when the changeover takes place. So for the time being I try to induct 24 more crewmembers in the secrets of operating a lifeboat.  In the past only those who were in charge of the lifeboat needed to be certified; the rest had to be trained on a regular basis. Now legislation and also company requirements are getting more and more elaborate and that means that every crewmember now needs proof of their knowledge and their training. Certificates, stamps and other tokens that keep the auditors satisfied.  With the regular change over of crew and the rotation to other ships there is always need for more certified crew and I try to help the numbers swell.

Especially the new function of Communicator needs attention. This is a new addition to the life boat crew and this person is meant to narrate and announce to the guests in the lifeboat what is going to happen and how it happens. So when the lifeboat would wobble (and they all do when being moved away from the ship in the davits) then everybody is prepared and nobody will panic.  For that we need native English/American speakers and also those who can to a certain extent perform.  Hence the Entertainment department is now a prime target for me. Singers, Dancers, librarians, Travel Guides, Techsperts, Band leaders, whatever function we have out there, they are all a prime target.  The same is going on, on all the other ships, only there the deck officers have to find time to conduct these classes. Here on the Veendam, I will deal with it as long I am around for the three alarm system.

Thus today we had the scheduled sea day and a warm day it was. Relatively few guests were on the outside decks, many more sought their divertissement inside the ship. Ranging from the early morning Church service, to bridge, to the Lectures (about Sea Mammals !!!!) to the shop deck sale, the travel guide and the art auctioneer, and do not forget the bingo. There also came a lot of noise out of the Casino so it looks like they all had a very good time there.

Tomorrow we are in Cartagena. We are scheduled to dock at 07.00 hrs. and sail again at 13.00 hrs.  We are looking forward to real Cartagena weather; Very hot when the sun is shining and still hot when it is raining. We are expecting showers in the afternoon, so we should get it all.

Last night we had an hour back because North America is still on summertime (GMT – 4 hrs.) and the Caribe stays on GMT – 5 hrs. all year around. But by the end of the month they should be in synch again when winter time comes. With the hour time change it was day light a little bit earlier than yesterday and it also helped that we sailed towards the East of cause. Daylight revealed a situation that we had hoped would have gone away already.

Yesterday I blogged about waiting to see if there would be wind enough to keep the ship at the anchorage but I was not expecting that the swell & wind were still completely from the wrong direction. The wind had not turned at all back to the normal North Easterly Trade wind direction. The wind and waves where still coming in from the S.E. and slightly more from the South than from the East and that was bad news. If it was wind only then the ship could stay on the engines and float with the nose in the wind and maintain position without drifting onto the island.

But SE swell is another story. It does not have to be an issue for the ship but it can be an issue for the port. And today it was. The long swell was running straight into the port and while going over the shallow area in front of the port, building up even more and then crashing into the dock walls. The captain sent a tender out to check on the Pilots reports and the crew reported in & concurred with the pilot, saying that things were not looking good. While alongside the tender rose and dropped constantly 3 feet and more and was not steady for a single moment. Imagine trying to step out of an elevator where the threshold is constantly going up and down by three feet. Not safe to do …………….and that we do not do. Hence the only decision that could be made was made, cancelling. Not nice for our guests, not nice for the shopkeepers, but safety comes first. The only good thing about sending the tender ashore was that it picked up lost luggage from Ft. Lauderdale. So we will have some happy campers on board.

For Grand Cayman there is no plan B. If the downtown docks are too dangerous then it stops. And as long as Cuba is not open to us, we cannot dash over for an alternative port. Thus the only option is to stay at sea, sail a bit slower and enjoy a sea day onboard. The Cruise Director came up with an alternative program and I helped out with doing my HAL history lecture in the show lounge, which with careful planning, I managed to finish just before Happy Hour started in the Bars. By the time we sailed away the wind already started to breeze up. It might still have been from the wrong direction but it already followed the Trade wind patterns of increasing in strength during day light hours.

At sun rise it was a light Air, when we lowered the tender it was a gentle breeze, when we picked the tender up it was a moderate Breeze and by the time we sailed it was a Fresh Breeze (16+ knots) and the normal Trade Wind strength. If the direction had just been a little bit different……………………….  we would have made the call.

This wind business might need a little explanation. Although navigation is nowadays a highly technical operation we still keep the old traditions and names alive. Although this might come to an end as well eventually as the Beaufort Scale is less and less learned nowadays. Mr. Beaufort was an English gentlemen who in the 18th. Century invented a scale to classify wind strengths. It was his aim to ensure that when captains were talking to each other, when they boosted about surviving the same horrible storm, that they would at least be able to describe the correct storm force to each other.

So he came up with a scale of 12 steps and a description of each step in wind force, and sea state. 0 for no wind and flat calm seas and 12 for: such winds that no canvas can withstand. That corresponds with hurricane force winds. Nowadays we can measure winds way over wind force 12 (75 knots) so a wind force 16 would be possible but we do not do that. It stays with force 12………… as it is already bad enough. Apart from a wind meter you can see at the sea state what sort of wind is blowing.

I still prefer to hear” it is blowing wind force 3” than to hear it is blowing 8 knots. 8 knots is a more precise measure but the force number indicates to me more what the wind is doing to the sea than anything else. Thus the remainder of today we are at sea and tomorrow we will be as well. Then we visit Cartagena for just over a half day. Staying longer is a problem as it endangers the timely arrival at the Panama Canal. And that is a no – no, because if we miss our slot, we might have to wait a long time for a next opening.

The route that we take today is a sort of Cruise ship highway. For all the ships that come and go to the Caribbean, the island of Cuba is very much in the way. And as the Cubans have not yet dug a Cuban Canal right through the middle all ships have to go around it. That means either on the West side (Cabo San Antonio) or at the East side (Cabo Maisi).  As we are coming from Key West and are going to Grand Cayman, we sail around Cuba via the West side.

That means sailing all the way against the Gulf Stream which comes up along the East coast of Mexico and then moves into the Florida Straits. That is not good for making speed and thus the challenge is always to deal with the adverse current in such a way that it affects you as little as possible. Option one is to stay right under the Florida Keys as long as possible and then cut straight across, option 2 is to cut across and sail right above the coast of Cuba and option 3 is a combination of the two. It all depends where the axis of the Gulfstream is located. As mentioned in an earlier blog, we have charts that indicate where the Axis was located – recently – and hopefully it is still in the same position when you have to sail through the area. The axis can move considerably in a fairly short time and thus there is always a little bit of a gamble.

That brought us abeam of Cabo San Antonio around 7 am and from there we entered the Caribbean Sea. The current will remain against us, as it is supported here by the Trade Winds, which blow from East to West. Although today there was not much trade wind to be seen as it was almost wind still, courtesy of the frontal system that is now slowly pulling away. It will take a day or 2 before the trade winds are back to their normal strength.

The distance Key West to Gr. Cayman is such that it is too long to do it in one night and too short to really need to spend two days at sea. But if we would go full speed we would arrive around 11 pm in the evening and the night life in Georgetown is not such that it would make sense to do that. Thus we trundle along with a sedate speed so that we have a nice day at sea and then arrive at the decent time of 08.00 hrs. in the morning.

We will be at anchor there as the island has no docks yet. There are plans in development, varying from mooring buoys to a complete dock, but it is a careful process that is applied as whatever decision is being made, it affects the coral coast in one way or the other. Currently the ships are assigned to four anchorages and if there are more ships, then they stay on there engines and drift on location.

However no worries about that tomorrow.  We will be in on a Saturday and that means no other ships. Grand Cayman is mostly frequented by 7 day or 14 day cruise ships and they sail from Florida either on Saturday or on Sunday. Based on 2 days from Miami or Fort Lauderdale means that they can only make it there by Monday or Tuesday.  Thus we will have the whole place to ourselves and anchor at the most convenient spot.

That most convenient spot is anchorage number one as it has the best balance between good swinging room and a short tender distance.   All anchorages rely on the fact that the trade wind is blowing the ships away from the island and the anchor keeps them in place. As there is little wind at the moment it will be interesting to see if the little wind that there currently is will be enough to carry out a regular anchor maneuver.

In the dark of the early morning the Veendam arrived at the Key West pilot station after a breezy night at sea. But the weather did not throw a spanner in the wheel and on arrival at the dock there was hardly any wind. Wind is an issue in Key West, as the houses are barely built above sea level and there is no shelter anywhere in the port apart from those houses and three story apartment buildings. If I am not mistaken, the highest mountain in Key West is about 20 feet above sea level.  There are three docks in Key West, Mallory, Pier B and the Navy dock. All the ships want to dock at Mallory or Pier B, at least the company’s that is, but most captains prefer the Navy dock as it has much better bollards and more of them to hold the ship if a sudden squall comes through. The problem with the navy dock is that it is far away from town and has a long pier so they use those sjoek –sjoek trains there to get the people to the Gate.

Mallory is the most limited dock as far as bollards go, and if there is also a ship at Pier B then the ship at Mallory has to go forward as much as possible, to enable both ships to get their gangways out.  Today there was an Apartment of the Seas at the B pier and thus the Veendam had to move forward. That means that forward there are only spring lines that hold the ship. Some lines you could call breast lines (normally under 90o to the ship) but they were also sort of leading aft. Not nice if you expect a rainy day with the chance of an occasional wind burst. With the ship so far forward, the gangway is laid out in the Marshalling area of the ship (where we load the luggage and the provisions) and thus the guests have to walk through the crew area. Everybody finds that fascinating as you can peek into the crew mess rooms while walking by. We have guards along the route to stop the guests straying to where they should not go and we always have to get a few back on the right track. Some try to stray off on purpose but some just don’t pay attention and happily follow a crewmember who happens to walk in front of them………. and he or she also happens to be on the way to C deck and their Cabins.

The Captains have been lamenting about the lack of bollards along Mallory and B pier for a long time, but not much is happening to improve the situation. There has been for a few years a fierce debate going on about: more cruise ships, less cruise ships, bigger cruise ship, not bigger cruise ships.  It seems that the pro and con groups are more or less in balance and thus we wait for further developments. In the meantime the captains worry about being blown away from the pier during wind gusts. But I do like Key West, I greatly admire the groups of people there who woke up in 1968 and decided to remain in that year and who are very happy with that lifestyle. It must be a serene feeling to have your main concern of the day to make it to Mallory Square on time for the sunset.

I (finally) finished my training class for lifeboat attendants today with the much anticipated exam. I am very happy to announce that all but one passed and that one is getting a second chance. As I am now staying until Nov. 08^th. for the 3 alarm system, I have the chance to give a 2^nd training class and thus he can have another go at it.

Getting ready for Sunset in Key West from a 2012 photo

Sunset at Mallory Square. Highlight of the day and on occasion a cruise ship blocks the view. To please again both parties (those who want to see the sunset and those who want to keep the tourists in port as long as possible) there is a permit system that allows a certain numbers of stays after sunset. Today there was no sunset as dark clouds were gathering at the horizon but also nobody had any reason to be upset with the Veendam as we sailed at 1600 hrs.

Tonight we will sail SW against the Gulf Stream and then tomorrow we come around the West Point of Cuba = Cabo San Antonio.  There is a large frontal system laying over the Caribe which is bringing all that rain to Key West but it is supposed to start moving away.

It was still dark when the ship arrived in Fort Lauderdale, courtesy of the fact that the distance is not that far from Port Canaveral and it is nearing winter and thus the days are getting shorter.  But it turned out to be a similar day as yesterday, overcast, hardly any wind and warm.  Today we embarked the remainder of our guests and that means that our voyage is now well and truly underway with a full house of eager cruisers. Not only North Americans, but also Australians, British, Germans and I heard a few far Eastern languages from Korea, Japan or China.

The ship has currently a visit from our Designated Person or D.P.  This is a compulsory function under the Safety Management System under which we operate; and as do all other shipping company’s as well.  Within this system a function was created to act as a bypass of the regular chain of command. Normally if something is wrong, in the area of Health, Environment and Safety or Security (HESS) then that is played up the chain of command until a solution is reached.  Now there is always a possibility that something that has been reported, is not reaching the level where it can be resolved.  This can be for various reasons, varying from just having forgotten about it, to not understanding the issue, or even unwillingness to give follow up.  In the unlikely event that this would be the case, the person onboard who does not get his/her situation followed up upon, has the option to contact the DP directly.

The DP then takes it up with the ship or within in the office, with the department that bears the responsibility for the area of concern reported and that department then HAS to follow up and report back to the DP. If that department or person would refuse to do so then the DP has the right and the obligation to march straight into the office of the CEO and Chairman to report and to seek a solution. Our Safety Management System is in the end the responsibility of the CEO who has signed off on the system. That document is called a Level 1 document and from there onwards the Safety Management System is sub divided into Level 2, Level 3, and Level 4 documents and procedures.  Level 1 is the cover letter where it all starts, the bottom line of the system, coming down from the top and hence the DP has to right to contact the person who signed off on at the top level of the system. Contacting the DP is not something that is being done lightly as you bypass the regular route of reporting. If it is done, then alarm bells go off well and truly as it indicates that somehow a reporting and correcting process is not working.  A well-organized company such as Holland America Line ensures that the system is working properly and that makes the life of a company D.P. not that exciting.

As far as I know, the DP of HAL has had in all the years that the system is in operation not really any calls that necessitated him to go directly to the top. Also he only deals with issues in relation to the safety of the ships and the company.  It has not much use to call him about your salary of your love life as that is not in his purview.

Part of the function is also to stay in contact with the fleet and that means a yearly visit. Either the DP or his designate (with 15 ships it is already impossible to do the visits in one year by one person) will go around the fleet to verify if the procedures for this “bypass” system are in place and if everything on the ship is running in the general accordance with the company’s Safety Management System.

Thus the Veendam now has its yearly visit and this time it is the DP himself. (It does not have to be a him it could also be a her).  Between now and Grand Cayman, he will nose around, do spot checks and will review the procedures to get a general impression of how well the System is applied onboard the ship.

Tomorrow we will be in Key West, docking at Mallory square from 0800 – 1600 hrs.  The weather looks a bit unsettled and it might be rather windy.

It was dry but overcast when the Veendam arrived at the pilot station of Cape Canaveral. The port is located just south of Cape Canaveral of NASA fame. As a matter of fact you can see the launching hangar with the naked eye just to the North. The pilot was even a bit earlier than scheduled, something we always like about pilots, and by 7 am. the ship was well and good lined up to enter the port. I assume that there was a sort of port originally created by Mother Nature, sometime in the grey mists of time, but if there was there is not much left of it. Everything has been re-sculpted and that is still going on, on a grand scale. The port hopes that eventually one of the Oasis Class ships, there are some under construction, will home port in Port Canaveral. Thus they are widening the entrance channel and a new passenger terminal is being built, located just off the harbor masters office.

The leading lights which the pilot uses to keep the ship in the middle of the channel is inside the little black circle that I have drawn in the photo

The main fairway is straight in on a course of 270o and then ships move sideways to one of the inlets, dug off the main fairway. Currently all four cruise terminals are in the Northwest Corner and today all 4 were in use. Veendam on 1, Disney Wonder on 2, Norwegian Breakaway on 3, and the Europa on 4. (When counting from South, to West, to North) If all ships were full then there would have been 8,400 guests in port today. But for the Veendam that is already not true as we will get the balance of our guests onboard tomorrow in Fort Lauderdale. The funny thing to note when there are more cruise ships in port is that they do not all park in the same way.

The Veendam was nose in and the other three nose out alongside. You might think that how you dock basically depends on if the captain slept on his left side or right side the night before, but unfortunately that is not the logic behind it. It is all being dictated by the shore gangways. And if you want to use those, then you have to dock accordingly. Most shore gangways can only go up and down and that means that the ship has to park, often on the inch, with its access door lined up with the gangway.

In Port Canaveral these gangways are not jet walks and not regular gangways either but something of a mixture and for the Veendam to fit, it meant docking nose in. As predicted, the weather was overcast and not too warm, so we had perfect weather to lower the lifeboats for training. Due to our stay in Philadelphia – out of the water –it had been impossible for me to get lifeboats – into the water- with the result that all my training classes had to be put on hold until today.

Playing around with lifeboats is fun

Today was messing around with boats and it was as if we were all going on a school trip. So all day the lifeboat went up and down with small and very excited groups who were all inducted in the secrets of how to operate and drive a lifeboat. Not easy; lifeboat are designed to be full of people and when not they float very high on the water and the wind can blow them all over the place. Today there was no wind and that made it a little bit easier. We will leave tonight at 8 pm and then it is only a short dash to Fort Lauderdale. The entrance there is similar to Port Canaveral but once inside some of the docks are on the Inter coastal and that makes it a bit more complicated to get the ships lined up properly at their respective docks. And also the sailing course is different, can you do 270o in Port Canaveral, it is 267o in Ft Lauderdale.

The port of Cape Canaveral in the nautical chart.

During the night the winds subsided to almost nothing, much less than predicted and if it is better than the prediction, then I am all in favour.  Also the swells disappeared with the wind and now there is only a very low swell left coming in from the mid ocean. Looking at the direction I would say that this swell is a left over from our friend Hurricane Gonzales who after making life miserable in Bermuda is now getting people in the UK excited.

We are still on the way South, staying out of the Gulf Stream and the Captain is telling me, that it even looks like that we have a small counter current with us. At least we are going faster than the engines can move us forward so there must be something there.  We are roughly in the area of the North and South Carolina’s working our way down to Florida.

HAL’s new cabin steward design.

We had some excitement today in the Housekeeping Department on board as the cabin stewards were issued new uniforms. Holland America tries to keep the image of those on board fresh and contemporary and started a new uniform project about 18 months ago. First the Lido stewards, then the dining room stewards and now the Cabin Stewards.  Also the uniforms of the Guest Relations Attendants were changed some time ago and that change included the Canaletto Manager.

Canaletto Managers uniform which is a regular crème suit with yellow tie.

I wonder if they will ever get around to the bridge uniforms. Always fancied myself in one of those Star Trek uniforms.

In some other ways, the uniforms have seen a reduction. Sailors wear more and more utility coveralls in the color brown instead of the blue uniform with the tally-wacker on the back. It makes sense as paint and grease show less on the coveralls and the coverall material lends itself better for cleaning out grease and paint than the blue uniform material.

With a sea day, going around everybody is catching up with paperwork and the planning for this Trans Canal cruise. I have been busy with plotting in all the drills, trainings and other stuff that I get myself involved in so that we get the most out of what is available. Due to our dry dock we could not finish the implementation of the 3 alarm system here and thus we will do it shortly after the Panama Canal. Then by the time we reach San Diego everybody will be very well drilled and settled into the new routine.

Tomorrow morning we should be docked at Port Canaveral by 08.00 hrs. and then stay until 20.00 hrs. The ship will get about 1300 tons of fuel onboard to make the coming voyage and then the day after in Fort Lauderdale, there will be heavy storing with provisions for the remainder of the voyage.

The weather forecast for tomorrow is not bad at all. Mainly overcast with temperatures just touching the 80’s. A good day for messing around with lifeboats.